Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are being sued by a group of passengers who claim they paid extra money to sit in “window” seats which were not actually next to windows.
Proposed class actions were filed against United in San Francisco federal court and against Delta in Brooklyn, New York, federal court, seeking millions of dollars in damages for more than 1 million passengers at each airline.
The complaints say some Boeing 737, Boeing 757 and Airbus A321 planes contain seats that would normally be next to windows, but lack them because of the placement of air conditioning ducts, electrical conduits or other components.
The lawsuit claims that Delta and United do not flag these seats as not being next to windows during the booking process, unlike rivals such as Alaska Airlines and American Airlines. Passengers who pay for the window seats can instead find themselves sitting next to a windowless wall, despite Delta and United allegedly charging tens or sometimes hundreds of dollars for the seats.
“Had plaintiffs and the class members known that the seats they were purchasing [were] windowless, they would not have selected them – much less have paid extra,” the United complaint said. The Delta complaint contained similar language.
Carter Greenbaum, an attorney whose law firm, Greenbaum Olbrantz LLP, filed the suits, told the New York Times: “We’re seeking to hold United and Delta accountable for charging customers premiums for products that they didn’t deliver, and misrepresenting the nature of the products that they did deliver.”
Neither Delta nor United responded to requests for comment from Reuters.
In an annual report this year, United described itself as “the largest airline measured by available seat miles in the world”. On Delta’s website, the airline says it “intends to ensure that your air travel experience will encompass, to the best of our abilities, the most comprehensive customer service possible”.
